


Make My Wish Come True

by Selenay



Series: Dreams and Circus Crowds [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Christmas Fluff, Coulson With a Cane, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 08:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2844269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Selenay/pseuds/Selenay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Understanding, and maybe a flash of worry, filled Clint's eyes. "It's your first Christmas away from home for a long time." </p>
<p>"I've been there every year since I got out of the Rangers," Phil said. </p>
<p>A coda to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/721666">Dreams and Circus Crowds</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make My Wish Come True

**Author's Note:**

> I always thought there wasn't anything else I wanted to say about this 'verse, until I was planning out what my Christmas fic would be this year and this little plot bunny hit me. It turns out, there was one more little thing I wanted to say.
> 
> This is dedicated to all the wonderful C/C writers out there, who have given us another year of fabulous fic, and to all my lovely readers, who have supported my stories all year. Thanks, guys. Have some Christmas fluff on me!
> 
> With thanks to my marvellous beta, [chaneen](http://archiveofourown.org/users/chaneen/pseuds/chaneen), who has helped so many of my fics (including this one) to be better this year. All remaining mistakes are my own. Titles is shamelessly stolen from "All I Want For Christmas".

"Bye, Uncle Phil!" two voices shouted through the speakers on Phil's laptop.

Lucy waved ecstatically and nearly bopped her older sister on the nose.

Jeannie, half hidden behind her three kids, waved and mouthed, "Goodnight, Phil."

Phil smiled and said his goodnights, waving dutifully and forcing a smile even though it didn't seem to as easy to produce as usual. His nieces and nephew, his sister, they all looked so happy crowded together on the sofa. He closed the video call with a sigh.

Not missing them had been easy when the circus was in full operation, moving from town to town every few days, and his nights had been filled with Clint. Not missing them had seemed almost trivial, even after the circus spent a week in Ashdale and he remembered what being home was like.

Today he missed them with an ache he hadn't realised he could feel. A few branches from the Christmas tree had been in view throughout the call, the tinsel and lights calling to him. The house would be filled with the smell of pine, mingling with the scent of spices and chocolate from Jeannie's Christmas baking.

The door banged open behind Phil, making him jump. He turned in his seat, in time to see Clint climb into their trailer with two red cups clutched in his hands. The cool breeze had put colour in Clint's cheeks, and he was wearing a jaunty Santa hat. The hat looked a little out of place with his jeans and t-shirt, but the sight made Phil's chest feel a little less tight and achy.

Clint held out a cup and nodded to the laptop. "Everything okay back home?"

Phil sniffed the gingerbread latte appreciatively, finally feeling a smile reluctantly tug at his lips. "Everything's fine back there."

"Then why do you look like someone died?"

Maybe his smile hadn't been as convincing as it felt. Phil shook his head. "It's nothing, I just miss them right now."

"Huh." Understanding, and maybe a flash of worry, filled Clint's eyes. "It's your first Christmas away from home for a long time."

"I've been there every year since I got out of the Rangers," Phil said. "Lucy wasn't even a year old when I left in the spring. It's going to feel odd not being there on Christmas morning, that's all."

Clint shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, before shrugging and putting down his cup on the table by the laptop. Phil nudged his computer a little further away while Clint was preoccupied with patting his pockets.

"I was going to surprise you with these later tonight," Clint said, pulling something out of his back pocket. "You know, cook you a nice meal, dress up a bit, all the nice shit people are supposed to do on date night."

"It's date night?"

"We don't have another show until New Year's," Clint said. "And we're not moving on tomorrow, so we don't need to pack up tonight. I figured that probably made it time for an actual date night, like normal people have."

He held out an envelope, his eyes darting everywhere except for Phil's face.

Phil stared at the envelope. His heart was doing something odd that made him feel breathless. "What is that?"

"Early Christmas present," Clint said. "Really early, I know, but I couldn't give them on Christmas Day when the whole point is to be in Ashdale on Christmas Day."

Phil took the envelope, noting absently that his hands were shaking a little. He pulled out a printed booking confirmation for a pair of round trip plane tickets, leaving in two days' time.

"I've had them for a while," Clint said, "but I didn't want to spoil the surprise. Except you probably need time to pack and figure out presents and shit, and Nat told me you'd kill me if I just kidnapped you and took you to the airport on the day. Was she right?"

"The gifts are already there," Phil said unthinkingly, still staring at the papers in his hand. "Clint, how did you--"

"We had our best year ever," Clint said. "Our takings were up, our expenses weren't stupid, and you helped us do that. Think of this as my bonus and, uh, yours. Is it okay?"

Phil looked up, unable to find words. He grabbed a handful of Clint's t-shirt and tugged him down for a kiss, instead, putting all the gratitude and love he felt into the warm press of lips. The tightness in his chest went away completely as Clint melted into the kiss, replaced by an entirely different kind of breathlessness.

The kind that made his heart race when Clint whispered promises in his ear and took his hand to help him to the bed that was conveniently nearby in their little trailer.

***

"Are you sure about this?" Clint asked. "It's not too late for me to get a motel."

Phil barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. They'd had this conversation three times so far since they'd landed. "I'm sure that my sister will kill me if I let you get a motel room."

"But--"

"No buts," Phil said, limping determinedly up the path so that Clint had to follow or be left shivering on the curb. Circus folk didn't really own winter gear, it turned out, and Clint's leather jacket didn't provide much protection against the bitter wind. They spent the winter in the south, so they didn't need it. Phil was grateful he'd taken his warm coat when he went to join them. Shivering while negotiating a potentially slippery path with a cane was a recipe for disaster, in his experience. "You're staying here, with me. Jeannie will be grateful for the extra pair of hands in the kitchen. She's already asked me more than once whether you can make gravy without lumps."

"Of course I can!" Clint said, looking mildly affronted.

"Then you've saved Christmas dinner already," Phil said. "Just for that, Jeannie's going to be falling all over herself to keep you here."

The door opened before Clint could muster any more protests, and Phil tried not to take it too personally when Jeannie ignored him completely and hugged the stuffing out of Clint.

He heard her muttering something about gravy, but he was too preoccupied with trying not to fall over under the weight of Abby and Jake hugging him around the waist to make anything out. Clint's shyly delighted smile, though, would stay with him for a long time.

***

On Christmas morning, Phil was woken by a distant slamming door and the sound of a herd of elephants running downstairs. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head, smiling when he found Clint lying with his head pillowed on his arm, watching him.

"Been awake long?" Phil asked.

"A while," Clint said. "The bed's too big. Too comfortable."

Phil chuckled. "I remember you being ecstatic at the size and comfort of my bed."

"That was different. It was your bed. This isn't."

"Ah."

Clint frowned when he heard a high-pitched scream float through the door. "Are they all right?"

"It's Christmas morning and Santa's been here," Phil said. "They're excited."

"It sounds like they're about to declare war. Or maybe destroy the house."

"Just wait until they get some chocolate."

"Bad?"

Phil smiled. "They'll be flying around the ceiling." When Clint's eyes widened, he quickly added, "Not literally."

"I knew that."

"We don't have high wires."

"I knew that, too." Clint's lips twitched into a small smile. "Abbey asked me to teach her some stuff when we come through in the summer. Would Jeannie kill me if I set up a really low trapeze to learn on?"

"Probably," Phil said. "I'll remind her that Abbey could be asking me to teach her some knife throwing."

"Um."

Phil narrowed his eyes. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Clint protested.

Phil's attempt to interrogate further was completely derailed by Clint leaning over and catching his lips in a deep, thorough kiss. Warmth curled low in his gut, and all thoughts of trapeze and Jeannie flew away under Clint's skilful lips and tongue. Phil retained just enough brain power to glance over and check to make sure that the door was locked, but then Clint did that thing with his teeth on Phil's neck and any further thoughts flew away, replaced by heat and need and smooth golden skin.

***

Later, Phil leaned against the doorjamb, watching the chaos still playing out in the living room. Clint was trying to simultaneously teach Abbey how to use her new bow with its sucker-tipped arrows and play some kind of complicated card game with Jake that involved a lot of shouting and victory dances around the room. Lucy was quieter, occupied with her new box of wooden bricks, but she was probably only resting before she showed off her new toddling skills again.

Derek had already declared that he was exhausted by the noise his kids were making and retreated to his man cave in the basement. He'd reappear just in time to carve the turkey, as usual.

Phil's mouth was already watering at the thought of the food. The scents wafting from the kitchen were delicious.

He felt rather than heard Jeannie sidle up behind him, so he didn't jump when she wriggled under his arm and draped it across her shoulder.

"He's great with them," Jeannie said.

"There aren't many kids in the circus," Phil said. "He was nervous about doing this."

"Tell him from me, that he's a hit," Jeannie said. "They're going to demand that he comes for Christmas every year."

"I think I can arrange that," Phil said, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

Jeannie tilted her head back to look up at him. Whatever she saw in his face made her eyes widen. "You're that sure?"

"I am." The box with matching rings had been digging into his hip all morning. He was just waiting for the chance to sneak away for a few minutes. "Do you need him for anything?"

"Not for a while," Jeannie said. There was a delighted smile lurking behind her eyes. "I guess running away to join the circus worked out for you."

"It did," Phil agreed.

Jeannie squeezed him around the waist quickly and waded into the chaos, picking up Lucy and grabbing the back of Jake's sweater before he could make another tumbling run around the room.

"I think all of you need to give Clint a break, before you break _him_ ," Jeannie announced. "Muppets Christmas Carol time, everyone!"

It was a good distraction, and Clint looked slightly relieved when it worked. Phil could sympathise; he'd been the uncle in the middle of the chaos every year before. That thought made him pause for a moment to appreciate the warm bubble of happiness it gave him; Clint was a part of his family, as much as Phil had become a part of Clint's circus family.

"Oh, hey, Jeannie," Clint said as the kids started to settle on the sofa. "I got you something, too."

Jeannie pressed the DVD drawer closed and looked up. "You didn't need to. Your gravy skills already got you in."

Clint shrugged. "I know, but I thought you'd appreciate this."

He reached behind the sofa and pulled out a poster tube with a red ribbon tied around it. Phil remembered seeing it poking out from the top of Clint's backpack when they were travelling, but he'd forgotten all about it until now.

Jeannie's eyes lit up, despite her protests, and she eagerly grabbed the tube and slid out the contents.

The poster had a black background and the design was outlined in glittering silver, which matched the elegant cursive script announcing Romanov Circus's newest act. The only splash of colour was the red knife that the figure in the centre held.

Jeannie traced the letters, before looking up at Phil, her eyebrows lifting. "You're performing?"

Phil lifted one shoulder. "Natasha caught me practicing with the current act. She made Clint talk me into it."

"He didn't need much persuading," Clint confided. "He's going to be amazing."

"I have to see it," Jeannie said.

"I'll send you a video of his first performance," Clint said. "He looks like a pirate."

Phil shook his head as Jeannie cackled and demanded photos, which Clint was happy to oblige with. The whole town was going to know about it as soon as Jeannie got to a phone. He found that he didn't really mind.

***

Snow crunched under Phil's feet, the squeaky feeling both familiar and odd all at once. He'd forgotten what winter felt like here. His home was a trailer in the middle of the circus grounds, in the warm sunshine of the south.

His home, it turned out, was wherever Clint went.

Clint stamped his feet and hunched his shoulders, hands stuffed firmly in his pockets, but he hadn't started protesting yet about the cold. He'd been quite cheerful about everything Phil's family had thrown at him since he arrived, even though he was clearly unused to all the traditions and barely contained chaos.

The parts of Christmas that involved glitter and tinsel were just a part of his normal life, even if there was usually more glitter on Clint than on anything else.

Maybe next year, Phil would talk to Jeannie about doing Christmas at their parents' place in Florida. It might be easier; the temperatures would definitely be closer to what Clint was used to.

Perhaps the circus could spend the winter months there.

Phil considered that thought happily for a minute. Then he contemplated his mother watching him perform in the ring, which she inevitably would, the moment they were within two hundred miles of her.

No circus in Florida. Definitely not.

"So, what did you want to give me that couldn't be done in the house?" Clint asked. He grinned crookedly. "Unless this was an excuse to get me alone, which sounds awesome, except making out in the snow seems like a fucking freezing idea. No offence. And Jeannie can probably still see us from the kitchen window anyway."

"It wasn't making out," Phil said. He'd been calm all morning, but suddenly nerves were making his hands shake as he tried to fumble the box out of his pocket. "It's this. These."

The box tumbled from his fingers, landing in the snow with a soft splat. Before Phil could bend down to get it, and probably fall on his ass if his cane slipped, Clint knelt and scooped it up.

He brushed the snow away, his fingers slowing to a gentle caress as he noticed what he held. A small frown creased his brows.

"Phil?" Clint asked.

Phil couldn't say anything. The careful speech he'd planned had flown out of his mind the moment he saw Clint kneeling in the snow, holding up the little black box. It was all wrong, and completely right.

"I'll just...open it?" Clint asked. "Is that okay?"

Phil nodded.

Clint's fingers were quick and neat as he snapped open the box, revealing the matching silver rings.

"Oh." Clint glanced between the box and Phil, Phil and the box, as his eyes widened and his hand started to shake. "Oh."

He couldn't seem to look away from the box for a long time, and Phil's words refused to come out. They tangled on Phil's tongue and stuck to his teeth.

Clint wetted his lips and looked up, eyes almost comically wide. "Will you marry me?"

"That was supposed to be my line," Phil said, through strangely numb lips.

"Right. Yeah. I guess it was." Clint shrugged. "I was on my knees. It seemed like the right thing to say."

"Do you mean it?" Phil asked.

Clint ran a shaking finger over each ring. "Yeah, I do."

"I want to marry you," Phil said, the words that had stalled so completely suddenly flowing easily. "I want to make forever formal, in front of everyone we know. I want to make sure we can have forever, no matter what happens to either of us."

Clint narrowed his eyes. "It's the former accountant in you, isn't it?"

"No," Phil said, before shaking his head and saying, "and yes. But it's also the man who was drowning in a colourless existence, until you changed everything. You made me feel again."

It had to be the cold breeze that made moisture sparkle when Clint blinked. Or maybe it was some of the glitter that seemed to be a permanent part of Clint, a part that Phil loved almost as much as the strangely shy smiles and generous heart. Phil smiled.

"When?" Clint asked.

"Huh?"

Clint carefully stood up. His jeans were soaked at the knees and he was probably frozen, but his smile was the brightest Phil had ever seen. "When can we get married?"

Phil shrugged. "Whenever you want."

"I'll call Nat, tell her we need to make Ashdale our first stop when the roads are clear," Clint said. "Unless you want to do it in a stuffy town hall?"

"The big top would be perfect," Phil said, and reeled Clint in to kiss him senseless.

He dimly heard Jeannie whooping in the background, but he didn't care. He had Clint, warm in his arms, and the promise of forever just around the corner.


End file.
